Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Land Rover 109 coolant leak

Hmmm, I was going to go camping, not far away just to see how things go. I went and was checking fluid levels and found the coolant at the top of the inner tubes of the radiator. It had been filled to within 1/2" of the bottom of the fill hole.
     Looking around I found a puddle of coolant on the bottom of the fins on the right hand side, where the rust is in the pic.



    I called and talked to my friend Mike who owns an Andy's Auto Supply to get the real info on stop leak stuff. He recommended K-seal and I topped up the radiator and hopped in the 109 and drove down and bought some. When I returned home I checked the leak and it wasn't there? WTF?
    Leaks don't just stop... I waited for it to cool down and checked the fluid level, no change. Curious and curiouser.

    Next morning I got up and checked it fully expecting to find a puddle. Nothing! This was going to take some investigating. I started to look around closely and discovered that the tube extending from the overflow bottle had cracked and when the radiator cap opened the pressurized liquid would spray out on to the side of the radiator and pool on the lower tank.




   I fixed it by taking off the overflow tube and making a replacement out of aluminum tubing I had. I sealed it with silicon and the tank is sandwiched between washers and nuts on both sides. Then using my wood burning tool I melted the extra tube around the inlet nipple to close the break and hopefully strengthen the joint.



After my grocery trip today there is a little drip on the inlet nipple I will try a jubilee clip and see if that stops it. I didn't see any coolant anywhere else. Fingers crossed!


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